Tucked into Weld publisher Mark Kelly’s Red Dirt column this week was a nugget to which few people paid a great deal of attention – the naming of a new executive director for the 1,000+ acre nature preserve located on the city’s east side. A visit to Ruffner Mountain Nature Preserve’s website (specifically the page listing its staff) shows Stan Palla listed as holding the position. Palla has previously served as the executive director of Alabama Bicycle Coalition.

Kimberly Jeanty, who served as the organization’s interim executive director since last fall, remains on staff as its director of marketing and development. The hire ends a search that started when Robbie Fearn left to become the director of the Pine Island Sanctuary and Center in Corolla, North Carolina.

Ruffner Mountain has also made a simple three-question survey available online via SurveyMonkey, using it as an opportunity to announce Palla’s hire via their fan page on Facebook on July 31.

Photo: via AlaBike.org.